Verify that you can add the Web Part properly to a Web Part zone.

Adding a Web Part to a Web Part zone is the most common user task. Therefore, it is essential that the Web Part works correctly to create a good user experience.

To test

1. Create a new Web Part Page.
2. Click Modify Shared Page, click Add Web Parts, and then click Import.
3. Import the .dwp file for your Web Part.
4. Add the Web Part to a Web Part zone.

Verify that static Web Parts render appropriately and do not cause the Web Part Page to fail.

Web Parts that are placed outside of a Web Part zone, or static Web Parts, are contained in .aspx pages, but not in the Web Part zone. Because the static Web Part is a Web form control, ASP.NET renders the Web Part. You cannot save changes in either shared or personal view.

To test

1. Open FrontPage.
2. Create a new blank page.
3. In Design view, on the Data menu, click Insert Web Part.
4. From the Web Part Gallery that appears in the task pane, drag a Web Part onto the page.
5. Save the page as an .aspx page.
6. View the page in the browser.
   

   Note

      

   Make sure that your Web Part is within the

   <form runat=”server”>

   tags.

7. Verify that the part renders correctly (for example, you should not be able to save changes in a static Web Part).

Verify that the Web Part works correctly regardless of where the Web Part Page is located.

You can add Web Parts to Web Part Pages that are contained in a document library as well as Web Part Pages that are contained in the top-level Web site. They should work correctly in either location.

To test

1. Create a Web Part Page in a document library.
   • Browse to the portal site.
   • On the Create menu, click Web Part Page.
   • In the New Web Part Page creation form, Save Location lists the document libraries in which the Web Part can be saved. Select a document library, and then click Create.
   • Import your Web Part from the gallery.
2. Create a Web Part Page in the top-level Web site.
   • Open a SharePoint site in FrontPage.
   • On the File menu, click New.
   • In the New Page section of the task pane, click More page templates, and on the Web Part Pages tab, select a template.
   • Click on a zone to bring up the gallery (or on the Data menu, click Insert Web Part), and then import your Web Part into a zone.
   • Save the Web Part Page in the top-level Web site, for example, at the same location where the default.aspx is located.

Verify that property attributes are correctly defined.

You can specify Web Part properties in two ways: as an XML BLOB contained within the Web Part, or as an attribute within the Web Part.

Because of how the Web Part infrastructure handles property values, we recommend that you define properties as simple types rather than as complex types so that they work properly if specified as attributes of the Web Part.

To test

1. Create a static Web Part in FrontPage and, in Code view, try setting every property the Web Part has as an attribute.
2. Browse to the page and see if the page fails or if the property was ignored.

Verify that Web Part changes made in personal view are not reflected in shared view.

Changes made in shared view are seen by all users. Changes made in personal view should only be seen by the person that made them.

To test

1. Add the Web Part in shared view.
2. Edit the properties in shared view.
3. Change to personal view.
4. Edit the property in personal view.
5. Change back to shared view, and then make sure the Web Part does not use any of the values changed while in personal view.

Verify that every public property can handle bad input.

As for any ASP.NET control or application, you should validate all user input before performing operations with it. This validation can help to protect against not only accidental misuse, but also deliberate attacks such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting, buffer overflow, and so on.

To test

1. Verify that the Web Part can detect invalid input for properties and that it informs the end user that bad data was entered.
2. Verify that the property is not used outside of its intended purpose. For example, if a Web Part is intended to allow users to link URLs, limit the protocol usage to HTTP instead of allowing any protocol to be saved (for example, javascript://).
3. Verify that the Web Part HTML encodes the property value when rendering user input to the client.

Check all the ways in which property values can be changed, including:

• Modifying the .dwp file in a text editor.
• Modifying properties in the tool pane.
• Modifying properties in Code view in FrontPage.
• Using the Web Part Page Services Component (WPSC), which is a client-side object model that provides a way to set properties and persist them from the client browser.

Verify that the Web Part handles all of its exceptions.

A Web Part should handle all exceptions rather than risk the possibility of causing the Web Part Page to stop responding.

To test

Enter error and boundary cases for Web Part properties to verify that the Web Part never breaks the page by not catching one of its own exceptions.

Verify that the Web Part renders correctly in Microsoft Office FrontPage.

If your organization is using FrontPage to customize SharePoint sites, verify that the Web Part renders properly within FrontPage. To accomplish this, the Web Part developer must implement the IDesignTimeHtmlProvider interface.

To test

Open up a Web Part Page that contains the Web Part in Design view in FrontPage. Verify that the Web Part renders correctly and you do not see the message “There is no preview available for this part.”

Verify that Web Part properties displayed in the tool pane are user-friendly.

Because the tool pane is where users modify Web Part properties, it is important that users can work with Web Part properties easily in it.

To test

1. Add the Web Part to a Web Part Page. Click Modify Shared Page, click Modify Shared Web Parts, and then select your Web Part. The tool pane should appear and display the Web Part properties.
2. Verify that the Friendly Name is easy to understand, for example, a property named MyText should be My Text (notice the space between the two words).
3. Make sure the Description (the ToolTip that appears) helps the user understand how and why to set the property.
4. Verify that the Category name makes sense. (Miscellaneous is used when no category is specified for the property, but it is not especially helpful to the user.)
5. Verify that the order of the properties makes sense.
6. If appropriate, check that these properties are localized using the following method:After installing the SharePoint language packs, create a new subsite and select a different language. Add the Web Part to a Web Part Page in the new subsite and verify that Friendly Name, Description, and Category are localized in the tool pane.

Verify that the Web Part appears appropriately in the search results.

Because Web Part galleries can contain numerous custom Web Parts, the search capability helps users quickly find the Web Parts they want.

The Web Part infrastructure uses the Title and Description properties of the Web Part to build the result set, so comprehensive information in these fields results in easily searchable Web Parts.

To test

1. Add the Web Part to the Site Web Part Gallery by navigating to Site Settings, clicking Go to Site Administration, clicking Manage Web Part Gallery, and then clicking New Web Part.
2. Choose the Web Part you’re testing, and then click Populate Gallery.
3. Browse to a Web Part Page, and then click Modify Shared Page, click Add Web Parts, and then click Search. Enter the appropriate search text and click Go. The Web Part should appear as one of the top choices.

Verify that you can import and export the Web Part properly.

By default, whenever you export a Web Part, each Web Part property is included in the .dwp file. However, because properties can contain sensitive information, for example, a date of birth, you can identify a property as controlled, allowing you or the user to exclude the value if the Web Part is exported. Only properties that are exported when the user is in personal view can be controlled; in shared view, all property values are exported.

To test

1. Add a Web Part from the gallery into a Web Part Page and set the Web Part’s properties.
2. On the Web Part chrome drop-down menu, click Export to export the Web Part.
3. Save the .dwp generated onto your local computer, and re-import the Web Part by clicking Modify Shared Page, clicking Add Web Parts, and then clicking Import.
4. Browse to the .dwp file, click Upload, and then click Import.
5. Make sure that the properties that were exported are correctly imported.
6. Verify that any property that would not make sense to export (for example, a Social Security number) has the ExportControlledProperties attribute set. (The Allow Export Sensitive Properties check box in the tool pane should be cleared.)

Verify that the Web Part previews properly.

It is important to create previews for Web Parts so that administrators are able to review the parts included in the Web Part gallery.

To test

1. Go to Site Settings, click Go to Site Administration, click Manage Web Part Gallery, and then click the Web Part. The preview should render.
2. Verify that there are no script errors.
3. Verify that the preview appears correctly.

Verify that the Web Part can access its resources in different setup configurations.

Web Part resources cannot be part of the DLL because they must be URL-accessible. Examples of these resources are images, .js files, or .aspx pages.

To test

Note   Because a Web Part assembly can be installed in either the bin directory (

<%SystemDrive%>\Inetpub\wwwroot\bin

), or the global assembly cache, you must go through each of these test steps with the Web Part installed in the bin and again with the Web Part installed in the global assembly cache.

Add the Web Part to your page in all the following scenarios and make sure that it can correctly access its resources:

• Add the Web Part to the top-level Web site.
• Add the Web Part to a subsite with unique permissions, in which the user only has rights in the subsite.
• Add the Web Part to a Web Part Page inside a folder in a document library.
• Add a Web Part to a site with Self-Service Site Creation enabled on the virtual server.
• Add a Web Part to a site with Host Header mode enabled.
• Add the Web part to a site where the top-level Web site is not a SharePoint site, for example, http://servername/customURL.
• Add to the Web Part to Web Part Pages that are in different subsite languages.

Verify that Web Part properties are not dependent on each other.

Because you cannot guarantee the order that properties are set in the tool pane, you should avoid writing Web Part properties that are dependent on each other.

To test

1. Test different values for properties in the tool pane.
   

   Note   If a property is not visible in the UI, or is disabled, you can open the Web Part Page in FrontPage, switch to Code view, and then set the properties by editing the XML. Export the Web Part, save the .dwp file, and then modify the .dwp file.

2. Import the .dwp file back into the page and check the property values.

Verify that the Web Part works correctly with different combinations of Web Part zone settings.

Web Part zones have properties that control whether a user can persist changes. If a user attempts to save changes to a Web Part without the correct permissions, a broken page can result.

The following Web Part zone properties affect Web Parts in the zone:

• AllowCustomization If false, and a user is viewing the page in shared view, the Web Part cannot persist any changes to the database.
• AllowPersonalization If false, and a user is viewing the page in personal view, the Web Part cannot persist any changes to the database.
• LockLayout If true, changes to the AllowRemove, AllowZoneChange, Height, IsIncluded, IsVisible, PartOrder, Width, and ZoneID properties are not persisted to the database regardless of view.

To test

1. Create a page in the browser, and then add your Web Part into several zones, both in shared and personal views.
2. Open FrontPage. Open a Web Part Page on a SharePoint site and, in Design view, double-click a Web Part zone (or right-click over a Web Part zone, and then on the shortcut menu, click Web Part Zone Properties), and then change the zone properties. Alternatively, you can switch to Code view and type in the attributes for the Web Part zone control.
3. View the page in the browser.
4. Verify that the part does not break the page and functions correctly.
5. Verify that any UI displayed in the Web Part indicates to the user that changes cannot be persisted or that UI is disabled as appropriate for the zone settings.

Verify that the Web Part renders appropriately based on user permissions.

Because a Web Part is managed by the user at run time, the Web Part should render with a user interface that is appropriate for each user’s permissions.

To test

1. Test with different User accounts that have only Reader or Contributor rights.
2. Make sure the UI is suppressed if the end user does not have permissions to perform a certain action. (For example, if a Web Part displays a Save button, it should be disabled or hidden if the user does not have permissions to perform that action.)
3. Turn on anonymous access for the site and browse a Web Part Page that has your Web Part, but make sure the sign-in button is still visible on the page. (When the sign-in button is displayed on the page, the user has not yet been authenticated.)

Verify that adding several instances of the same Web Part to a Web Part Page (or in the same Web Part zone) works correctly.

When you want multiple Web Parts to share client-side script, you should place the script in an external file and register the script for the page to improve performance and simplify maintenance.

To test

1. Add several instances of the Web Part to the page. Be sure to execute any client-side script that is specific to the Web Part.
2. Add several instances of the Web Part to the same Web Part zone. Be sure to execute any client-side script that is specific to the Web Part.

Verify that Web Part caching works correctly.

For any operation that works with a large amount of data, use a Web Part cache to store property values and to expedite data retrieval.

Web Part authors can choose to cache data in several ways, but ultimately the administrator decides the type of caching that a Web Part uses.

Following are the three types of cache:

• None, which disables caching.
• Database, which uses the content database (and requires all objects to be serialized).
• CacheObject, which uses the ASP.NET Cache object (the default).

To test

You set the type of cache using the value of the WebPartCache element in the web.config file.

1. In the web.config file, change the <WebPartCache Storage="CacheObject"> statement to <WebPartCache Storage="Database">, and make sure that the Web Part still works correctly.
2. Change the statement to <WebPartCache Storage="None">, and then make sure that the Web Part still works correctly.
   

   Note   By default, exceptions related to caching are not displayed by the Web Part infrastructure. For debugging purposes only, you can make the following changes to your web.config file.

   In the <system.web> tag, locate the <customErrors mode="On"> tag and change it to <customErrors mode="Off"> to see the ASP.NET exception when an error occurs instead of being redirected to the error page.

   In the <SharePoint> tag, locate the <SafeMode MaxControls="50" CallStack="false"/> tag and change it to <SafeMode MaxControls="50" CallStack="true"/>. This causes the ASP.NET error message to display with stack trace information.

Verify that requests to other HTTP sites or Web services are asynchronous.

For performance reasons, you should use an asynchronous thread for any operation that works with a large amount of data.

To test

1. Check with the developer to see if she or he is making any calls to Web services or other HTTP sites. Confirm that the calls are asynchronous.
2. Run some performance tests on a page with the Web Part.

Removing Orphaned Domains from Active Directory

1. Determine the domain controller that holds the Domain Naming Master Flexible Single Master Operations (FSMO) role. To identify the server holding this role:
   1. Start the Active Directory Domains and Trusts Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in from the Administrative Tools menu.
   2. Right-click the root node in the left pane titled Active Directory Domains and Trusts, and then click Operations Master.
   3. The domain controller that currently holds this role is identified in the Current Operations Master frame.NOTE: If this changed recently, not all computer may have received this change yet due to replication.For more information about FSMO roles, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
      197132 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/197132/ ) Windows 2000 Active Directory FSMO Roles
2. Verify that all servers for the domain have been demoted.
3. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Command Prompt.
4. At the command prompt, type: ntdsutil.
5. Type: metadata cleanup, and then press ENTER.
6. Type: connections, and then press ENTER. This menu is used to connect to the specific server on which the changes will occur. If the currently logged-on user is not a member of the Enterprise Admins group, alternate credentials can be supplied by specifying the credentials to use before making the connection. To do so, type: set creds domainname username password , and then press ENTER. For a null password, type: null for the password parameter.
7. Type: connect to server servername (where servername is the name of the domain controller holding the Domain Naming Master FSMO Role), and then press ENTER. You should receive confirmation that the connection is successfully established. If an error occurs, verify that the domain controller being used in the connection is available and that the credentials you supplied have administrative permissions on the server.
8. Type: quit, and then press ENTER. The Metadata Cleanup menu is displayed.
9. Type: select operation target, and then press ENTER.
10. Type: list domains, and then press ENTER. A list of domains in the forest is displayed, each with an associated number.
11. Type: select domain number, and then press ENTER, where number is the number associated with the domain to be removed.
12. Type: quit, and then press ENTER. The Metadata Cleanup menu is displayed.
13. Type: remove selected domain, and then press ENTER. You should receive confirmation that the removal was successful. If an error occurs, please refer to the Microsoft Knowledge Base for articles on specific error messages.
14. Type: quit at each menu to quit the NTDSUTIL tool. You should receive confirmation that the connection disconnected successfully.

Domain controllers do not demote gracefully when you use the Active Directory Installation Wizard to force demotion in Windows Server 2003

Windows Server 2003 domain controllers

1. By default, Windows Server 2003 domain controllers support forced demotion. Click Start, click Run, and then type the following command:
   dcpromo /forceremoval
2. Click OK.
3. At the Welcome to the Active Directory Installation Wizard page, click Next.
4. At the Force the Removal of Active Directory page, click Next.
5. In Administrator Password, type the password and confirmed password that you want to assign to the Administrator account of the local SAM database, and then click Next.
6. In Summary, click Next.
7. Perform a metadata cleanup for the demoted domain controller on a surviving domain controller in the forest.

If you removed a domain from the forest by using the remove selected domain command in Ntdsutil, verify that all the domain controllers and the global catalog servers in the forest have removed all the objects and the references to the domain that you just removed before you promote a new domain into the same forest with the same domain name. Windows 2000 Service Pack 3 (SP3) and earlier global catalog servers are noticeably slower to remove objects and naming contexts than Windows Server 2003 is.

If resource access control entries (ACEs) on the computer that you removed Active Directory from were based on domain local groups, these permissions may have to be reconfigured, because these groups will not be available to member or stand-alone servers. If you plan to install Active Directory on the computer to make it a domain controller in the original domain, you do not have to configure access control lists (ACLs) any more. If you prefer to leave the computer as a member or stand-alone server, any permissions that are based on domain local groups must be translated or replaced. For more information about how permissions are affected after you remove Active Directory from a domain controller, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

This tutorial will explain how to create a first domain controller(DC) in your network or company includes DNS server setup in windows server 2003 .You have to install DNS server for DC without DNS the client computers wouldn’t know which one is DC.You can host DNS on a different server than DC.

Before Starting the DC installation process you need to make sure the following points

• You have installed Basic windows server 2003 installation

• Make sure you have assigned a static ip address to your server

Now start DC and DNS Setup process

First you need to go to Start–>All Programs–>Administrative Tools–>Manage Your Server

Here you need to select Add or remove a role

Verify the following steps click on Next

Select Server Role as Domain Controller option click on Next

Summary of Your Selections click on Next

Active Directory Installation Wizard click on Next

Click “Next” on the compatibility window

Next window select the default option of “Domain Controller for a new domain” and click “Next”

In this tutorial we will create a domain in a new forest, because it is the first DC, so keep that option selected

Now we have to think of a name for our domain. If you have a domain like windowsreference.com”, you can use it, but it isn’t suggested because computers nside of your domain may not be able to reach the company website. Active directory domains don’t need to be “real” domains like the one above – they can be anything you wish. So i will create “windowsreference.int”.

Now in order to keep things simple, we will use “windowsreferenc”, which is the default selection, as the NetBIOS name of the domain.

The next dialog suggests storing the AD database and log on separate hard disks and you can just leave the default settings.

The SYSVOL folder is a public share, where things like .MSI software packages can be kept when you will distribute packages and you can just leave the default settings or you can change the path.

Next Screen basically says that you will need a DNS server in order for everything to work the way we want it (i.e., our “windowsreference.int” to be reachable).we will install the DNS server on this machine or if you want you can installed else where select “Install and Configure…” and click next.

Here you need to select the permissions for win 2000 or win 2003 server if you have any NT4 select first option otherwise select second option and click next

The restore mode password is the single password that all administrators hope to never use, however they should also never forget it because this is the single password that might save a failed server.click next

Now we will see a summary of what will happen click next

Active directory installation process started this can take several minutes. It’s likely that you will be prompted for your Windows Server 2003 CD (for DNS) so have it handy.

Active directory Installation finish screen click Finish.

Now you need to select “Restart Now” option to reboot your server.

After rebooting you can see new option for logon

After logging in you can see similar to the following screen saying your server is now domain controller.

That’s it now your server is configured as domain controller and DNS server.

If you want Step by step guide how to install windows server 2003 check here

In my recent article 10 Reasons why VMware ESXi 4 is perfect for the SMB I covered why VMware ESXi 4 is perfect for the SMB. In this follow up article, I will show you, step by step, how to download, install, and get started using VMware ESXi version 4. Let us get started then!

1.      Make sure your Hardware is Compatible

Before starting the process of downloading VMware ESXi, you must make sure that your hardware is compatible with VMware ESXi version 4. This is especially true because ESX and ESXi version 4 require a server with a 64 bit CPU. In other words, ESXi 4 would not run on a server with a 32 bit CPU.

To verify that your hardware is compatible, checkout VMware’s Hardware Compatibility List. If you do have a 64 bit CPU but your hardware is not on the list, I encourage you to still try out ESXi 4 to see if it works on your hardware.

If you only have a 32 bit CPU, VMware is still offering ESXi 3.5 Free Edition that is compatible with 32 bit CPUs.

2.      Register with VMware and Activate your account

Once you know that your hardware is compatible, you are ready to obtain ESXi 4. However, to obtain it, you need to register to download it. To do this, go to the ESXi Free Download website. Enter your name and email address to activate your account.

Figure 1: Registering to download the free VMware ESXi 4

You will receive an email where you will click to activate your registration. That will take you to the download site for ESXi 4.

3.      Download ESXi Free

Next, you will see that ISO and ZIP versions available for download. You will also see your activation code. Make sure you keep that code handy for later.

Figure 2: Downloading the VMware ESXi ISO Image

Click on the ISO image and download the 341MB file. You do not want the ZIP file as that is for upgrading, not a fresh install.

4.      Burn a CD

Once downloaded, that image needs to be burned to a physical CD (unless you are going to run ESXi inside VMware Workstation). In other words, if you are going to run ESXi on a physical server (everyone is except in rare cases), then you need to put it on a CD and boot that server off of the CD.

To do this, you will need to burn the CD using CD Burning / CD Authoring software and a CD recordable drive.

In my case, I had a CD authoring software installed (called Power2Go) that came with my CD/DVD drive so when I double-clicked on the download, the burning software started.

Figure 3: Burning ESXi to a CD

You should note that you only need to insert a CD recordable disk, not a DVD as this image is only 340MB. Also, because of this, the burning will only take a few minutes.

For more information on ISO Burning, see this article – How to Write ISO Files to CD.

5.      Obtain IP address and register hostname in DNS

While the image is burning and you have a few minutes to spare, I recommend that you figure out what static IP address you will use for the new ESXi host. Also, you want to figure out what DNS name you will use and create an alias for the ESX hostname in your DNS server. Of course, that DNS host name will map up with the static IP address you carved out for the new ESXi host.

6.      Boot ESXi and Install

At this point, you can take your burned VMware ESXi 4 CD, insert it into the server and start the installation process. Like any CD that you are trying to boot, you may need to check the boot order in your BIOS or press a key (like ESC) to manually boot from the ESXi CD in the CDROM drive.

The ESXi installation process is quick and easy. It is likely that you will take all the defaults, with the only deterrent being that you should enter all the necessary network information such as:

• Static IP address and hostname you defined in step 5
• DNS servers and DNS suffix
• Default gateway

For some basic step by step on the installation process with screenshots, please see my article- New VMware ESXi Server – Configuration Checklist.

7.      Initial ESXi Server Configure

To initially set up the new server, again, I am going to refer you to another of my articles that covers this step by step. Please see New VMware ESXi Server – Configuration Checklist. This will guide you through doing things like setting the root password, locking down the server, and more.

Figure 4: Configuring your new server at the console

8.      Install your vSphere Client

To manage the new server, you need to install the vSphere client. The vSphere client is used whether you purchase the vSphere Enterprise Plus Suite for thousands of dollars or if you are using the Free ESXi only.

To download and install the vSphere client, just open your web browser and enter that static IP address or hostname of the new ESXi server in the address bar. This will take you to the webpage for that server where you can download the client.

Figure 5: Downloading the vSphere client

9.      Enter your Free ESXi Activation Code

Once your vSphere client is installed, you can connect to the hostname of your new ESXi host. When you do connect, you will get the message that your 60 day trial has started. “Hey wait!”, you say, “this was supposed to be a Free ESXi host, not a 60 day trial”. Well, to make it “free” you need to use the activation code that you see up in Figure 2.

In the vSphere client, go to the Configuration tab, then to Licensed Features and add your License Key, like this:

Figure 6: Entering your License Key

At that point, you can use this ESXi host forever at no cost!

10.  Install or Import a VM

Finally, you need some virtual machines. You can import VMs from the Virtual Appliance Marketplace by going to File > Browse Virtual Appliance Marketplace or by creating your own VM by going to File > New > Virtual Machine.

You can even convert physical machines into virtual machines using a P2V conversion application.

At this point we are all done Downloading, Installing, and getting started with the free VMware ESXi 4 server! Do not forget to document changes for your junior IT staff and educate them how to use the new virtual infrastructure. Once you spend some time using and evaluating VMware ESXi, you may want to consider a full 60 day eval of the complete vSphere suite.

S. No

Guide Lines

Examples

S.No

Advanced points during DB Testing

Script to display total number of mails in Gmail Inbox

What is it

pywinauto is a set of python modules to automate the Microsoft Windows GUI. At it’s simplest it allows you to send mouse and keyboard actions to windows dialogs and controls.

>>> from pywinauto import application
>>> app = application.Application.start("notepad.exe")
>>> app.notepad.TypeKeys("%FX")

myapp.Notepad # looks for a Window/Dialog of your app that has a title 'similar'
             # to "Notepad"

myapp.PageSetup.OK # looks first for a dialog with a title like "PageSetup"
                  # then it looks for a control on that dialog with a title
                  # like "OK"

app.Notepad.MenuSelect("File->SaveAs")
app.SaveAs.ComboBox5.Select("UTF-8")
app.SaveAs.edit1.SetText("Example-utf8.txt")
app.SaveAs.Save.Click()

Some similar tools for comparison

• Python tools
  

  • Watsup (http://www.tizmoi.net/watsup/intro.html)
  • winGuiAuto (http://www.brunningonline.net/simon/blog/archives/winGuiAuto.py.html)

• Other scripting language tools
  

  • Perl Win32::GuiTest (http://erngui.com/prog/perl/guitest/)
  • Ruby GuiTest (http://raa.ruby-lang.org/list.rhtml?name=win32-guitest)
  • others (http://opensourcetesting.org/)

• Other free tools
  

  • AutoIt (http://www.autoitscript.com/)
  • See collection at: http://tejasconsulting.com/open-testware/feature/gui-test-driver-survey.html

What does selenium do ?

Selenium Flash Demo(Highly recommended for beginners) :
http://wiki.openqa.org/download/attachments/400/Selenium+IDE.swf?version=1

What are the components of selenium ?

Selenium IDE – Plugin to Firefox to record and play test in firefox
and also export tests in different languages. The most appealing
format is the html test case which seems to based on fit html .
Selenium RC- Allows playing of exported test in different platform/OS
Selenium Grid – Allows to control lots of selenium machines..

Other Project Management/wrapper tools around selenium:

Bromine(wrapper for selenium tests):
http://bromine.openqa.org/
Warning: The above tool at this moment(Oct 2008) is very primitive – with little
documentation/flash demo. To uninstall bromine -
you may have to kill all process(e.g. mysqld etc) it started and then
delete the installation folder.

How does Selenium remote control internally works ?

Selenium RC launches the browser with itself as the proxy server (hence you may get certificate warning in some modes) and then it injects javascript – to play the test. This also means it can easily work in ALL browsers/platform – and it can be easily used to test AJAX(unlike professional tools).

What are the different modes that Selenium RC uses ?
With latest release of Selenium RC(1.0 beta 2) there
are two modes for IE *iexplore(same as *iehta) and *iexploreproxy.
Similarly for Firefox use *firefox(same as *chrome) and *firefoxproxy.
You should prefere *iexplore(ie *iehta) and *firefox (ie *chrome)
respectively as they work with cross domain.

Who should use it ?

Developers can use it – for “browser” regression testing ( and replace htmlunit/httpunit in some cases) .

Per the one of the forces behind selenium(Neal ford) – it should really be used by Business Analyst first .

QA should enhance/use it do regression test/cross browsers testing on all platforms .

Selenium IDE

In below screen shot – you can see that you need to do recording in main firefox window.
You can use selenium IDE to type any additional command that you may have missed(e.g. timeout)
In selenium IDE – you can open Selenium IDE Options – to change default timeout or
to add you own user extension to extend selenium.

Selenium Installation

Install (optional) Junit for java rc client(ONLY if you are using java client, you also need to add selenium java client driver in classpath)

Main TOOLS Installation:

Install Selenium IDE
After installation – you should see selenium ide option in firefox.

Install Selenium RC
After installation – go to directory containing file ‘selenium-server.jar’-
you will need to add appropriate bat/sh script as mentioned in
below steps.

Getting Started with Selenium/ Selenium RC steps

For intial recording- avoid using “cross domain” testing (eg www.abc.com, www.def.com) and
preferably use http site only.(till you figure out the workarounds)

eg You can use my test case that opens this tutorial(it searches for selenium tutorial
on google and opens this tutorial):

<html>

<!--NOTE -  Sometimes you may have wrong or blank base url - as seen on top of IDE-->

<link rel="selenium.base" href="http://www.google.com/" />

<title>New Test</title>

</head>

<body>

<table cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" border="1">

<thead>

<tr><td rowspan="1" colspan="3">New Test</td></tr>

</thead><tbody>

<tr>

	<td>open</td>

	<td>/</td>

	<td></td>

</tr>

<tr>

	<td>type</td>

	<td>q</td>

	<td>selenium tutorial</td>

</tr>

<tr>

	<td>clickAndWait</td>

	<td>btnG</td>

	<td></td>

</tr>

<tr>

<!-- Note selenim ide noted this as click. you have to change it manually to clickAndWait-->

	<td>clickAndWait</td>

	<td>link=Selenium Tutorial for Beginner/Tips for Experts</td>

	<td></td>

</tr>

</tbody></table>

</body>

</html>

Step b) Play your test case using selenium IDE itself to make sure
that your test case works.. Modify the recorded code if necessary(eg replace click by clickAndWait
or change timeout) as explained in Quirks section.

Step c) Export your recording test case – as html file
and/or optionally in programming languages like java, perl etc

Do I Export in HTML or do I export in programming language like java client ?

If you need dynamic capability (e.g. reading data from csv file or database) then
you have to export it in programming language like java.
You would also need to export in java – if your page has lots of flash
components. e.g.
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flash/articles/flash_selenium_04.html

There is also attempt to make silverlight work with java and .net out here.

The client code using java also is more stable (less permission denied errors) then
the html case.
But the html is easy to modify/maintain and it generates nice results – whereas in
java client code it tends to be cryptic(but again html test case – does not seem to be flexible).

I personally prefer the html option for the long term(if i don’t need dynamic capability)

Step d) Create a test suite

After you saved your html test case (eg save as a.html) – you need to create
a “Test Suite” (eg suite.html) – as you can NOT play test case directly.
Test suite is just a collection of test case which are defined/ordered using html table tags .
If you are adding another test case in the same test suite, then – initially – try to keep it to the
same – base URL(ie starting point)
- eg below

Suite.html
<table >
<tr><td>Overall Tests </td></tr>
<tr><td><a href=”./a.html”>TEST CASE A</a></td></tr>
</table>

Note:
1) The first row (e.g Overall Tests) in your suite is always considered as Header
2) Selnium RC does not support a TestSuite where you go across domains
(ie the only domain that you would be allowed is for e.g. www.abc.com)
You may be able to work around it with *chrome for firefox and *iehta for IE.

Continue Next step?

If you are happy in running you test suite manually in Firefox only with Selenium
IDE – then you can skip below steps.(Its also the most stable – with no cross domain/security
warnings)

But If you wish to run you test suite in IE or if you want to schedule your
test suite bat file automatically via inbuilt Microsoft Scheduler on XP
or cron on Unix – then follow below steps.

Step e) Run your exported html test case in IE(or firefox) using selenium rc

run it in command line/bat file with below command :
java -jar selenium-server.jar -multiwindow -htmlSuite “*iexplore” “https://www.abc.com” “C:\suite.html” “C:\results.html”
REM Use *chrome for firefox and try *iexploreproxy

You can then see the nice results it generated and you can write a simple script to
email the results to yourself in case of failure(The result html file will contained “failed”
keyword).
You may also schedule your test suite with default/inbuilt Microsoft Scheduler on XP.

NOTE:
1) You may use -port option to change ports in above.

2) You may have problems in using *iehta (necessary for removing security warning
and going across domains) with above options..

3)Warning:Its better to use *chrome mode – which is more stable. Else- You are likely
to get weird permission denied error or some script error with this option – or
maybe it will ask you to download your -.do/.faces page.
(But note – I don’t seem to get similar problem with java client code ie
using the code that was exported to java)
In short firefox is more likely to be stable as compared with IE for selenium.
In rare cases – You may get some lock errors with firefox though.(in
which case you may try to create seperate profile eg http://seleniumhq.org/docs/05_selenium_rc.html#specifying-the-firefox-profile
or in worst case – reboot machine/reinstall it )

Continue Next step ?

If you want dynamic capability (eg reading from CSV file or reading from database) – then
you may want to export your test case in programming language like java etc.
else skip next section.

Step f) OPTIONAL – Run your exported test case in programming like java .

Once selenium rc is extracted/installed then go to the directory containing selenium-server.jar.
If you want to use selenium-rc using programming language like java/.net/php etc(most cases)

You may want to add a bat/sh script to keep selenium rc always running..

REM set PATH variable to contain location of firefox/IE binary
REM set PATH=%PATH%;C:\firefox/bin
java -jar selenium-server.jar -multiwindow
REM -interactive is more user friendly – but does not work with websites using non frameable pages
REM – optionally use -port , if you want to run more then 1 instance

Now compile your selenium java client code with junit jar files , use selenium
java client driver, point to above selenium RC server and run it.
Assuming you exported the test case with name “NewTest.java” – you
can try to use below bat file(after getting the junit*jar and selelenium-java-client.jar – and creating clases directory in same folder)

——— eg. put below in compileJava.bat —————————-

REM Get  junit*.jar (got from junit.org)

REM  Get selenium-java-client-driver.jar 

REM (got from selenum rc installation/selenium-java-client-driver* folder)

REM  NOTE: classes directory should already exist in current directory

set CLIENT_JAR=.

set CLASSPATH=%CLASSPATH%;.;.\classes;;%CLIENT_JAR%\junit-4.4.jar;%CLIENT_JAR%\selenium-java-client-driver.jar

REM COMPILE(note default package at first line is com.example.tests)

javac -d classes NewTest.java

REM ensure that selenim rc server is already running on current machine

REM Now running the actual test.

java junit.textui.TestRunner com.example.tests.NewTest

REM - remove pause if you are going to schedule it.

pause;

——————————————————————-

This implies that java(or programming) code is dependent on
selenium rc server to be running on same(or other) machine. But the “html test case” – launches the “selenium rc server” every time.(hence you need different port – if you run html test cases in parallel)

Selenium Tips and Tricks/FAQ

• Do check the reference manual here to get concepts of selenium locators
  and the various commands that are available. You could get condensed version of the manual here.

  Without reading the manual – You may easily miss useful commands like pause(to test session timeout), storeHtmlSource (you can potentially apply selenium regular expression to verify the values of hidden variables insides that html) , typeKeys (to do things like page up etc)

• Assert vs verify: If you use seleniums verify command – then the test suite/case – will still run – and fail at the end. Hence in most cases you should use assert command which will cause the test to stop.
• Sometimes selenium IDE may use “click” instead of “clickAndWait” for some
  “submit” button cases resulting in your next page’s assert/verify to fail. Hence
  you should change it manually or add waitForPageToLoad with some timeout.
• If the recording is not working – then go to firefox and click on “Tools->Add on -> Selenium IDE ” .First disable it and then enable it and restart the browser. Sometimes clicking on Selenium IDEs
  Options->HTML Format helps.
• If web site does not allow itself to be frameable then use -multiwidow option(instead of -interactive) with selenium rc.
• To eliminate certificate warning(and work cross domains ) use chrome/iehta modes -
  which is now default(as compared with rc beta1 version)

  http://selenium-rc.openqa.org/experimental.html

• If you check selenium rc options eg “java -jar selenium-server.jar -h”
  then you will find that it has a “timeout” option. But that timeout is for the overall
  run(and not for individual “clickAndWait” ) . Hence you may be advised to use “setTimeOut” via your
  java program or in case of HTML use -Selenium IDE open test case-> Add Insert new command
  -> setTimeout with value(not Target) of say 240000 (ms)
• Selneium has this cool – captureEntirePageScreenShot command which works
  well with IDE/HTML . Consider using it at critical points(to debug
  issues, if you schedule your test cases).
  But with programming language like java – it may not work(try
  using the experimental – captureScreenshot .
• Consider writing a wrapper for your TestCase/TestSuite in .net/jsp
  so that you can maintain your testcase/test suite in HTML.
• Sometimes the browsers or the java process may not get killed after the test is run.. So you may need to manually
  kill it(you can try to use some automated tools like Pskill on Windows ).
• When your client java test (using RC) finishes with error – then it does not give clear error -
  you just the line number of the failed assert in stack trace – Hence you may need to trap all exceptions and – print the last body test
• If you are testing with page where the id dynamically changes – then You may need to use lots of xpath in your test . In that case install firebug and use “Inspect element” by right clicking on the element -> Copy XPath by right click on bottom-> Add “/” in front of value you got in your clipboard-> paste this as a “target” in Selenium IDE for your “clickAndWait” command. You can check the validility by – click on find button in Selenium IDE to ensure that your XPath is correct(assuming that page is open) . You may find more tip on xpath using firebug/xpather here
• If you are using Selenium HTML test case – then one way to remove hard coded values
  in your selenium test is to have simple JSP(or asp/php) that converts CSV file to HTML file.
  Then you just need to invoke that JSP page (for particular CSV) – and call various “store” values
  and replace hard coded values in your test with “get” values .
  That way you can just change your test/data by just replacing the CSV file.
• The latest selenium rc(1.0 beta 2) does support Firefox 3..
  With firefox 3 you can easily add your local https server with invalid certificate in safe list(to remove warning message).
  Its difficult to do that with Firefox 2.
• If you are running selenium rc test with IE a site which already has invalid certificate -
  then IE will give a warning for “invalid certificate”. You can have selenium
  automatically click on “Continue” link in it(which has ID of overridelink) by adding
  below command in your IE specific test case.
  <tr>
  <td>clickAndWait</td><td>//a[@id='overridelink'] </td>

  <td></td>

  </tr>
  With firefox 3 – you can permanently store the exception. However selenium -rc starts
  new firefox profile every time(probably to get around lock issues) – hence you may
  need to start firefox with same/particular profile.

  You may also consider changing IE options to be strict (eg Tool->Internet Options->Advanced->Display
  Notification on every script error) to have selenium catch any javascript issues/bugs in your website.

• Consider use of UI-Element – which is now supported in RC here
  
• There are other good tips here. 9-important-tips-for-selenium-remote-control-java-client-test-tool Selenium core faq(eg permission denied) – Must read
  Selenium rc Faq – Must read
• if you read above FAQ – you will realize selenium has limitation in IE with certain dialog box(eg upload file, basic auth). You can get around some of the limitation with autoit script
  from this site.
  Its advisable not to directly download the exe from above site – but rather install autoit, compile autoit script – from one of it program menus options – to Exe and than use the compiled exe.
  For whatever reasons – the above scripts(or autoit) does not help in Firefox dialog boxes(but you dont need it anyway as in chrome mode – selenium automatically gets rids of dialog boxes)
  However if you are trying to get rid of basic authentication dialog – you can directly pass user/pass in URL.(however for IE you would need to add some registery settings)PS: Autoit and autohotkey seem to have same codebase – and both have primitive recorder.
  (else we probably wont have needed selenium)

  NOTE: On windows – you should use ‘start’ in front of exe/.au3 file to make it run in background -
  and then run your selenium rc test in the same batch file(eg start autotItscript.au3)